Embodiments of the invention concern a method of sharing a test resource at a plurality of test sites testing a plurality of devices, an automated test equipment, a handler for loading and unloading devices to be tested to/from a plurality of test sites of an automated test equipment, and a system for testing a system for testing a plurality of devices.
Components, for example memory elements and integrated circuits (IC), need to be tested. During testing these devices under test (DUTs) are exposed to various types of stimulus signals, and responses from such devices are measured, processed and compared to an expected response. Such testing may be carried out by automated test equipment (ATE) which usually performs such tasks according to a device-specific test program or test flow.
Examples for such automated test equipment are the Verigy V93000 series and the Verigy V5000 series, the first being a platform for testing system-on-a-chip, system-on-a-package and high-speed memory devices. The latter is for testing memory devices including flash memory and multi-chip packages at wafer sort and final test.
Such automated test equipment may comprise multiple sites, each receiving a device under test thereby allowing the testing of a plurality of devices at the same time. Such automated test equipment may comprise a device handler having a gripping mechanism for simultaneously placing a plurality of devices to be tested into the test sites and for removing the devices from the test sites after the test is completed. The automated test equipment provides for respective resources allowing the testing of the devices, and in a multi-site test, the respective ATE resources are accessible to all sites. While there are resources which are provided at each site, there are also resources in an automated test equipment, such as RF resources for RF measurements and the like, which are expensive but which are used only during short periods of a test program or test flow executed at a respective test site. In one conventional approach, at each test site of an automated test equipment, such a specific resource, for example, a resource for performing RF measurements, may be provided which, however, is quite expensive. Alternatively, a single resource may be provided in the automated test equipment and resource multiplexing in common test flows executed at the respective test site might be performed. However, this adds to test time overhead. Also, the test flows or test programs may be modified to generate circular test flows which are executed in such a manner that those portions of a test flow accessing the specific resources do not overlap while simultaneously executing the test flows at the respective test sites, however, this involves the development of different test flows per site which increases the complexity of the test preparation.